Submarine vessel.



J. T. PARKER.

SUBMARINE VESSEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2. 1915.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

PATNT @FFIQE.

JQSEPH '1. PARKER, 035 WASHINGTGN, DISTRICT 13F COLUMBIA.

SUBMARINE VESSEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 11915.

Application filed June 2, 1915. Serial No. 81,786.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH T. Penman, acitizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Washington,D1str1ct of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Submarine Vessels, of which the following is a full and clearspecification.

The object of this invention is to provide a vessel with a supplementalconning tower or lookout station at the bow for special use while thevessel is submerged, my invention being especially adapted for use onthe long vessels that are now coming into use. In these longer vessels,the main or central conning tower is located a long dlstance from thebow or nose of the vessel and, therefore, even if it were provided withlookout w1ndows for use when the vessel is submerged, it would not beeffective in view of the fact that the distance one can see under wateris necessarily considerably limited. By employing a supplemental conningtower and locating it close to the extreme forward end of the vessel andupon the upper side thereof, it will be possible for a person located insuch supplemental conning tower to observe objects for a considerabledistance ahead when the vessel is submerged, as more fully hereinafterset forth.

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a side elevation of a submarine vesselconstructed 1n accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe bow of the vessel; and Fig. 3 a

vertical longitudinal sectional view of the bow portion of the vessel.

Upon the upper side of the vessel near its extreme forward end in thehull is formed an upwardly extending bulge a which forms a chamber incommunication with the interior of the vessel, this chamber beingsufficiently capacious to receive the head and shoulders of at least onemember of the crew. This chamber is, of course, made water-tight, beingin fact formed of a continuation of the hull or shell of the vessel.This tower-like bulge is provided at its front, sides and top withlookout windows 6, these windows being of course air and watertight andpreferably being protected by a suitable grating c. This supplementalchamber or tower a tapers from its forward end upwardly and rearwardlyto reduce resistance. to a minimum. A member of the crew standing orsitting in a position where his head and shoulders will be in thissupplemental conning tower will have a view of the water ahead of andabove the vessel when the vessel is submerged. Of course, it isunderstood that it will be impossible to see objects any considerabledistance ahead of the vessel, but it will be possible to view objects,especially vessels on the surface of the water in the day time,sufficiently far ahead to render my invention highly useful inconnection with certain kinds of submarine operations. For instance,with my supplemental lookout station at the extreme forward end of thevessel, it will be possible, if the vessel is moving slowly, as isusually the case when in the vicinity of mines or dangerous obstacles,to see the obstacles in time to avoid collision with them; and in othercases my supplemental lookout station will be of special service inassisting in discharging torpedoes when completely submerged and wherethe usual periscope is either out of commission or cannot be used byreason of the .proximity to an enemys surface .vessel. It will beunderstood, of

course, that I contemplate arranging suit able signal and controlapparatus in proximity to the supplemental conning tower to enable theobserver to control the vessel or give signals to the engineers toenable them to control the vessel.

In view of the possibility of crushing the glass panes or the toweritself and thus flooding the forward part of the vessel, it will beessential to provide means not only for the escape of the observer butalso to prevent the main part of the vessel from being flooded. To'accomplish this, I arrange, just back of the supplemental conning tower,a pair of separated partitions d and e, each provided with a doorwaywhich is closed by a-door 7", preferably hinged at its upper end so asto gravitate into closed position. A hook or other device 9 may beprovided for holding the forward door in open position, and the reardoor will preferably be arranged to be normally closed.

.Suitable gaskets will be provided for insurmental conning towercompartment at the front, the normally closed door f will hold back thewater until the observer has made his way into the air-lock compartmentbetween the partitions and has closed the forward door, after which therearward door may be safely opened even if the air-lock compartment bepartly or wholly flooded, since with the forward door closed thepressure upon the rear door will be relieved sufliciently to enable theobserver to open it with ease. In practice, it will be understood thatthe rear door will be kept closed at all times, while the forward doorwill preferably be held in open position, so that.in case of accidentall the observer has to do is to take a step into the air-lock andrelease the forward door and'thus prevent flooding or further floodingof the air-lock chamber.

Suitable means should be provided for supplying the observer with freshair and also for pumping out any water that may accumulate in theair-lock compartment. Fresh air from the main compartments of the vesselmay be pumped into the conning tower compartment through a pipe h whichis preferably provided with a valve 21 to cut off back-flow of water incase the conning tower compartment is flooded. Vitiated air may bepumped out through a pipe j which,

is also preferably provided with a valve 70. This pipe 1' may also beutilized for pumping flood water out of the air-lock chamber, and itwill be understood, of course, that any other suitable device orapparatus may be employed to not only insure the comfort and safety ofthe observer, but also to prevent flooding of the supplemental conningtower the vessel in the usual way. It will be un-' derstood that thissupplemental conning tower may be duplicated at the stern of the vessel,which stern conning tower will be of value in maneuvering under waterand especially in mine fields.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and 1n what manner the same s to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is A submarine vessel provided with a supplemental conningtower compartment in its forward end, a conning tower communicatingtherewith and arranged on the upper side of the vessel and provided withlookout wlndows, air-lock means being provided between sald compartmentand the main compartment ofthe vessel, said means embodying separatedpartitions set back a distance from the tower and forming an air andwater-tight chamber to the rear of the tower chamber, the innermostpartition being provided with a normally closed door and the forwardpartition being provided with a door and means for holding the sameopen, and means for supplying fresh air past the normally closed door.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature. I

JOSEPH T. PARKER.

